Chapter 433 - Companion

Somewhere else in the city, in the western quarter that lay just a short walk from the royal plaza, the Hero's group ran hard through the narrow, uneven streets. The sound of their footfalls came in a disjointed chorus, the brisk, sure strides of older clerics in heavy boots, the softer padding of bishops in worn sandals, the labored, dragging thumps of one man falling behind. The air here still carried the thick scent of dust shaken loose from old buildings, mixed with the distant metallic tang of burning iron and the faint, acrid bite of alchemical smoke drifting from the direction of the arena. Occasionally, faint tremors passed through the ground underfoot, little reminders that the city's heart was still under siege.